Walking with Insanity
by Indilwenlily
Summary: Cadmus and the Joker get in league and target Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Sending the trio to a new world created by the Joker, the three must battle their way out before it's to late. NO PAIRINGS! T for future violence
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my first Young Justice story and I hope you like it. I got the idea for Insane Land while I was babysitting and then I just had to decide on what show to make it a fanfiction of, so I settled for Young Justice, because I currently love it. I saw it while I was staying with my sister and her husband and now I've gotten hooked.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters, though I do own Insane Land.

The air rushed past my face as I flew, crashing painfully into the wall. I knew that if I didn't die here, Batman would kill me for failing. I couldn't let either of those happen, so I slowly and painfully got to my feet and faced my opponent; Aqualad.

The Atlantean was holding his water swords in an offensive position. I had to get them away from him, but it would be hard. Once I did, though, the battle would be mine.

I hated having to battle with my friends like this, but it was the only way to escape Insane Land, the world that the Joker himself created, just for us.

"Boy Blunder has his friends, a team of his own for him to defend!" he had mocked. "I made a playground for you, Birdie! Your friends can come too!"

And now here we were, fighting each other, or something like that. I almost forgot to tell you; that cloning thing that Cadmus did to us, the DNA that I thought I had blown up? It survived, so we're really battling our clones.

Cadmus survived somehow and got in league with the Joker, of all people! So Cadmus provided the clones and weapons, while the Joker provided this crazy world.

Who was there with me? Well, Aqualad and Kid Flash were originally with me, but I got separated from them. All I could do was hope that they were fairing better than I was. What? Where was Artemis, M'gann and Superboy? They didn't get involved, really. Superboy kind of went crazy when the people from Cadmus showed up, so last I knew Artemis and M'gann were trying to calm him down. But if you want the whole story, you need to go back about three days ago.

A/N: Ok, so I don't know how I feel about this. I'll start the next chapter anyway, but review and let me know if you want me to post it! If not, I might wait a little while until I have more knowledge of the characters, cause most of what I know about them comes from the few episodes of Young Justice, some Batman Detective comics and Teen Titans…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ok, so like, 10 minutes after I posted this I get an alert, so I got right to work on this chapter in my excitement! Let's see how this turns out now! ^_^

Chapter 1

The Brink of Insanity

This was getting annoying. I had been going to Mount Justice after school _every day_ for the past week or so. Bruce had someone staying at the house who _hated_ kids—emphasis on the word hate—so I had to go to the mountain after school and then go home at night and spend the evening with Alfred. Really, it was lame. I mean, Alfred was a cool guy and all, but I'd rather spend time with Bruce and tell him about all the crazy things that my best friend Wally West had done that day, because, trust me, there were a lot of crazy things that he did.

By the end of the week, I honestly thought that I would go insane, spending most of my days after school with M'gann and Superboy. I mean, I liked them, but they had this spark between them that just got really annoying. Neither of them knew much about earth, either, so I had to explain some things to them.

Kaldur would come at around four o'clock, followed by Wally and Artemis about a half-an-hour later. I realized how nice it was to be the last one there everyday before this visitor, because I didn't have to be there to hear Wally and Artemis bickering when they entered, having to run into each other everyday on their way to Mount Justice.

School was pretty uneventful. I didn't have many friends; no one wanted to be friends with the rich kid, even if it did have some advantages. That was the problem being Bruce Wayne's son while living in Gotham, because it gave the villains more opportunity to blackmail money from Bruce Wayne. Luckily, I didn't run into those villains very often as Dick Grayson.

I never would have minded having to face off against Two-Face or the Penguin or one of those guys, but when I got a phone call from a villain one day at the mountain, my worst nightmare came to life.

I had been sitting on the couch, playing video games while I waited for Wally to arrive. Kaldur had only recently arrived, so Wally would have gotten there in about 20 minutes or so. M'gann was in the kitchen burning something—I had learned to ignore her cries of sorrow whenever she burned cookies or something, because unless there was a real fire, there was no point in getting excited about it—while Conner and Kaldur had gone off to explore deeper into the mountain.

The ringing of the mountain's phone in the kitchen got my attention, though, because no one ever called that phone. We had it incase there was a problem and someone couldn't reach the Justice League for some reason, so it was no surprise for someone to access the number.

"Young Justice League, how can we be of service?" M'gann's suddenly cheerful voice rang through the room. "Yes, sir, Robin is here. Would you like me to put you on speaker?"

I perked up even more at my name and paused my game and headed into the kitchen when M'gann held the phone away from her ear to hit the "speaker" button.

"Helloooooo?" the devious voice rang through the line. "Am I all good to go?"

The person was using the voice changer, I could tell, though M'gann wouldn't know the difference, seeing as how she had only been on earth for a couple of months or so.

"You're all set sir," M'gann said cheerfully.

The man cleared his throat, "Good!" the man exclaimed, his voice changing again. As soon as he spoke, though, I knew who he was. "Well then, Boy Blunder, it's so good to hear from you! How long has it been now… one, maybe two months?"

"It's been 45 days since we put you away," I said. "I didn't think you got phone calls in Arkham."

The man snorted "Oh we don't! I guess you haven't heard the _great_ news, Robbie! I've been let out early!"

"By who?" I asked, looking over to see M'gann's confused look.

"Oh, you've heard of them before! It's a lab named Cadmus! Oh, it was great fun getting to burn a whole handful of them, but it was part of the deal! They let me out and let me burn some of their own and they get my help in hunting down you and your little team!"

"How many did you kill?" I snapped.

There was a pause and some slight counting was heard on the other line, "Oh, maybe like, 25, 26, 27… 27!"

I took a step back, "what do you want then? You got to have some fun and you know that we'll catch you anyway. What's the point in letting us know that you've escaped?"

"Oh, to have you send a message to Battie! Tell him that things are not as they seem to be!"

I glanced over and saw that M'gann was jotting down the message on a piece of paper.

"Now, Robbie, I'm going to be calling you and having you pass on messages to Batman. I need you to be sure that they reach him, or else you'll ruin the game! That was your message for today, so be expecting this call tomorrow!" With that, he started laughing. The laughter continued until I finally grabbed the phone and slammed it down on the receiver, hanging up.

"Robin?" M'gann asked. "Who was that?"

I sighed, "get Aqualad and Superboy and I'll explain when Kid Flash and Artemis get here."

"Why are you using the aliases now?" the Martian asked, obviously getting worried.

"Because, _he_ could be listening."

Wally and Artemis got there a few minutes after the phone call and Conner and Kaldur had just emerged from the tunnels with M'gann.

"Yo, Rob! Wassup?" Wally called as he entered the mountain.

"We need to talk," I said, ignoring his question.

"Did I do something?"

I shook my head, "I need to tell all of you something."

Wally and Artemis followed me into the living room as M'gann was getting Batman up on the screen.

"Robin, what happened?" Batman asked as soon as he was on the screen. I could hear the worry in his voice.

"I just got a phone call," I told him. "From the Joker."

…To be continued…

A/N: Ok, so this was kind of short, but I wanted to get it posted soon. The future chapters will probably longer, so be looking forward to that. I mixed my Microsoft Word, because it was like, zoomed up really big and I finally figured it out! I'm glad I did, because my paper got ruined last week because of it.

Anyway, I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed the story and for all of the favourites and alerts! The next chapter will hopefully be up pretty soon ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ok, so I got a little sidetracked when I went to write this one. Stupid Criminal Minds… Oh well, here's chapter 2! Also, I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter, I don't know that they have a phone or not, but I just had to put it there for the story. Let's just say it's there!

Also, I just want to thank everyone who reviewed. It hasn't even been 24 hours and I have 7 reviews… the most I've gotten for a story is I think about 8, so I am so grateful to all of you for the reviews! It's making me happy! ^_^

Chapter 2

Insanity is Contagious

"Things aren't as they seem?" Bruce asked as he paced back and forth through the Batcave. He had me go home after giving him the message and took me down to the Batcave with him after dinner, while Alfred entertained the guest.

"That's what he said," I told him. He had been repeating the phrase over and over, so it was getting really annoying.

"He said that he was going to be calling with one of these 'clues' everyday?"

I nodded, "he said that if I didn't give them to you, it would ruin 'the game'."

"And he said that he was working with Cadmus?"

I nodded again, "he burned 27 of their men alive."

"Doesn't surprise me at all," Bruce said, finally stopping his pacing. "I want you to take the call again tomorrow. Call me as soon as he hangs up and let me know what he says. We'll figure it out soon enough, but until then, all we can do is play along with it."

"What about the team?" I asked. "If he got involved with Cadmus, the team may end of being involved. Or at least Wally and Kaldur."

"We'll take care of that when the time comes, but don't worry about them for now."

I nodded yet again.

"Go and get some sleep," Bruce said. "Tomorrow is Saturday, which means that Miss Kimblee will be leaving tomorrow, so I can tell the League about this."

"Ok," I said and started up to the stairs.

"And Dick," Bruce called to me.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to face him.

"You handled it well today," he smiled.

I also smiled, "thanks," I said, before walking up the stairs.

When I reached the mountain the next day, the whole team was waiting by the phone.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"What's going on?" Wally almost screamed. "The _Joker_ calls you yesterday and gives you a riddle, so obviously we're waiting for the next call to come!"

"You don't have to crowd around, y'know… we'll answer it when it comes, but for now—"

The phone rang. The sound bounced off of the walls of the cave and everyone reached out to grab it as fast as they could, though Wally reached it first.

"Hello, Young Justice League here, how can we be of service today? Our work ranges from fighting super villains to getting cats out of trees— Yes, I'll put it on speaker."

"Hellooooo there Robbie!" the Joker's voice rang out. "I hope you had a grrrrreat night! Figure out what my clue means yet?"

No one said anything.

"Good!" the Joker continued. "You shouldn't be able to yet anyway. This is such a fun game, isn't it? I just wish that I could have seen Batman's face when he heard that I'm home free!"

"Just get to the point, Joker," I snapped. I was getting impatient.

"Oh, fine, you killjoy… well, anyway, tell Batman to look in the picture within the painting."

"That's it?" I asked.

"That's it. Now, my friends from Cadmus want to visit you sometime! You and your team, so how does next week sound, hmm? We'll all get together and sit down for some tea!"

"I'll pass," I said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a message to deliver."

"Oooooh be a poop then!" the Joker exclaimed before bursting into a fit of laughter and hanging up the phone.

"Get Batman online," I ordered and M'gann got right on it.

"Robin, what did you get?" Batman asked as he appeared on the screen.

"He said to look in the picture within the painting."

"That doesn't help us at all," Batman said.

"No duh," Wally said. "But what about the whole 'my friends from Cadmus want to visit you,' business?"

"What was that?" Batman asked.

"The Joker said that people from Cadmus wanted to come for a visit and have some tea. But Batman, he's a sociopath, he was bluffing," I said.

"He may have not been," Batman said. "I'm going to be staying at the mountain with you guys the next couple of days, just to be safe. I'll be over in a little while."

The screen went black and everyone turned to Wally.

"What did I do?" the speedster asked.

Batman arrived exactly 30 minutes later with two overnight bags for him and myself.

"We're spending the night," he explained to me. "I can't leave Superboy and Miss Martian here alone."

I sighed and picked up the bag he packed for me, taking it into one of the bedrooms. We all had assigned rooms incase we had to stay at the mountain overnight for some reason.

I changed into my civilian clothes minus the black jacket and settled down on the couch with my laptop.

"Hey Robbie, buddy, guess what!" Wally said, walking over to me.

"What?" I asked, not really paying attention to what the older boy was saying.

"I just called my mom and she said that I can come stay here. Well, I told her I was staying at Flash's house, but it's close enough, right?"

I groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long night.

"Wanna go get some pizza or something?" he asked.

"Maybe in a little while," I replied.

"Ok," he said and sat down next to me on the couch. "What are you looking at?"

"Stuff," I replied.

"What kind of stuff," he asked, trying to peek at the screen.

"Old, personal stuff."

"Oooooh what, like an ex-girlfriend's Facebook page or something?"

"No."

"Justin Bieber's twitter?"

"Not even close. Justin Bieber is fairly new, y'know."

"Oh yeah, something old… the Backstreet Boy's song lyrics?"

I closed the computer and stood up.

"Like I said; old, _personal_ stuff."

I walked into my bedroom and sat down, reading the article I had found on Wikipedia about the long forgotten _Flying Graysons_; my family before the Batman.

I would occasionally look up the criminal records from the case, or just search them on Google to see if anyone still remembered them after so long. 4 years ago they were killed.

There was a knock at the door and the Batman walked in.

"What do you want?" I asked. I was annoyed that I had to stay at the mountain, because there was barely any privacy there, with everyone who lived there. At the manor it was just Bruce, Alfred and I.

"You should get to bed," the dark knight said, pointing to the clock on my laptop. I looked and saw that it read 12:00. "It's getting late and we have to be ready for anything tomorrow."

"Ok," I said. I didn't really want to go to bed, but I knew I had to, since Bruce was telling me to. Once he said to do something, there was no other option but to do it.

He turned and started walking out the door, but then stopped. "You know, if you want to talk to me about anything, you can. I remember high school well and it wasn't a walk in the park."

"Ok, thanks," I said. I didn't care about high school. I saw Artemis in the halls, but couldn't say "hi" to her. If I could, she would be my only friend, but I couldn't risk my identity.

"Really, if you want to talk about anything at all."

"Ok, I will," I said. "Good night."

"Good night," he said.

I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. It seemed like I blinked and the sun was out. There were windows in the bedrooms, so I could see the sun shining outside.

I sat up and yawned, stretching my arms above my head, like I did every morning. But what I didn't do every morning was wake up to a ginger standing in my door way.

"Wally?" I screamed, falling face-flat into my pillow so that he couldn't see my face. I never slept with my mask or sunglasses on and I definitely never expected to wake up to someone standing in my room!

"Whoa, whoa, sorry man," he said, quickly looking away. He didn't want to face the wrath of Batman and have to tell him that he figured out who I was. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to go get some pizza or something! I mean, you kind of locked yourself in your room last night so we kind of never got out, but pizza is really good for breakfast and I know of this really good place and… Batman isn't gonna kill me for this, is he?"

I sighed, "No, Wally, he's not going to kill you."

He let out a sigh of relief, "whew! I was really worried there, I mean, because I really thought that if I found out who you were, I'd like, be condemned to hell or something but—how about some pizza? I'll pay to make up for this!"

"Ok, ok, pizza sounds good, now can you please leave so that I can get up?"

"Oh yeah, sorry!"

I heard the door closed and glanced around the room to ensure that there were no other surprise visitors hanging around. Once I was sure that there was no one hiding in the closet, I got up and got dressed, putting one my black skinny jeans and green sweatshirt, followed by the black jacket and traditional Chucks.

I slid on my black sunglasses and went out into the main room where Wally was waiting and sliding on a jacket.

"I just let Bruce know that we're leaving, so he said to be back within 2 hours. He doesn't have to know about the whole 'no mask no sunglasses' thing, does he?"

"No, he doesn't. In fact, how about we don't tell him at all?" I asked

"Sounds good," Wally said.

We reached the street and Wally led the few blocks to the pizza place.

"I come here at least once a week!" the older boy said excitedly as we sat down at a table.

It was a nice place with red and white checkerboard curtains and tablecloths. The tables were all mostly round, except for three in the middle of the restaurant and the four booths that sat against the walls. It was a pretty big building, which was nice, and they had waiters and waitresses.

"Hey Wally!" one of the waiters said as he walked over to the table.

"Hey Joe!"

"Who's your friend?"

"Uhh…" Wally started, obviously unsure of what to say.

"Rob," I said. "Nice to meet you."

"Well Wally, you want to usual?" Joe asked.

Wally nodded enthusiastically, "try something a little easy for Rob. He's never been here before and doesn't really know the ways of our food here. He's from Gotham."

"Are you now?" Joe asked. "My sister lives over in Gotham. Her name is Quinn. Do ya know her?"

"I don't know," I said. "There's a lot of people in Gotham."

Joe shrugged, "well, I'll be right back out with your orders.

I almost puked when I saw what Wally had ordered, but I stayed strong through breakfast. We got back to the mountain just in time for the next call from the Joker.

"He just called," M'gann said as we rushed over to the phone, which was now on speaker.

"Oh, are you there Robbie?" the Joker's voice asked. "Well good, because I have a special message today! Ding dong!"

And before anyone could react, dozens of clowns and men in bullet proof vests came running in through the doors.

…to be continued…

A/N: Ok, I know this was a really mean spot to leave it, but I couldn't help myself… I'll hopefully update tomorrow night. Frisbee might be cancelled before of rain and snow, so if it is, then I'll have the next chapter up then ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Ok, I just want to give out a big THANK YOU SO FRIGGIN' MUCH! To everyone who reviewed, because it seriously means so much to me! Also, I'm sorry this one took a little bit longer to post… the power on my half of the street went out last night, so we had to turn off the laptop in order to like, save the battery and I was almost done with the chapter! But here it is! Enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters… if I did, Robin would be 15 instead of 13…

Chapter 3

Love is Insane, but Totally Worth it

As soon as guns were loaded and smiling bombs were pulled out, Batman was in front of the team with batarangs drawn, ready to kill anyone who made a move on us.

"Ooooooh Batty is here to!" the Joker's devious voice rang out as he entered the cave, then he glanced at Wally and I. "What, no costumes today?"

"What are you doing here?" Batman demanded.

"We have a game to play, of course!" the Joker yelled.

"What game would that be?" Batman asked.

"The one where you have to solve the puzzle!" the Joker called excitedly and several G-Gnomes flew in through the windows, smashing the glass. Harley Quinn followed after them in a small hovercraft thing with a big clown smile on it.

"Sorry I'm late!" Harley called. "I had to make a stop at this great pizza place a friend of mine works at and leave him a clue!"

"Harley Quinn…" I whispered, and then leaned to Wally, "She's that Quinn girl that Joe was telling us about!"

"Bingo!" Harley said, floating over us.

I heard a scream and turned to see Superboy surrounded by some G-Gnomes and I knew what was going to happen next. He had overcome Cadmus' mind control, but if his reaction to M'gann's mind reading told me anything, then I knew he would have an even worse reaction to the gnomes.

The clone was throwing the G-Gnomes against the wall, but more kept coming in through the now-broken windows, keeping Superboy busy.

"You guys take down the clowns and soldiers," Batman ordered. "I'll get the Joker and Harley."

"Oh, but Batsie, then I won't be able to give you the next clue!" the Joker whined.

"Then get it over with!" Batman growled.

"Ooh feisty today, aren't we?" Harley asked.

"Oh well, I guess Batman would like to finish the game," Joker said flatly before jumping through the air and landing behind _me_ before I could respond. He wrapped me in a bear hug, making me want to barf. "Boy Blunder has his friends, a team of his own for him to defend. I made a playground for you, Birdie and your friends can come too!"

The Joker pulled out a knife and held it to my ear, "Now Bird Boy, you can come quietly, or we can lose a few body parts first."

"How about neither?" I ground out as I pushed my back into his chest and brought my legs up, kicking him in the face and ending with a back flip to escape his reach.

The Joker laughed as he slammed into the ground hard on his back, "Well today, you don't have a choice!"

And then the clowns were there, pinning my arms at my sides, one holding my neck and another holding my legs together. The Joker stood up and stalked toward me, pulling a syringe out of his pocket and playing around with the needle.

"Robin!" Batman yelled as he started running toward me, pulling out batarangs and throwing them at the Joker, but the villain simply swayed to the side and avoided them.

I saw Batman running faster now, but then my attention turned to the insane man walking toward me. The red smile painted on his face looked like blood as it started to drip down his chin, making him seem even crazier, with his greasy, green hair hanging in his eyes.

"You're fight is with me, Batty!" I heard Harley yell and also a startled "oomph" come from Batman. I slightly glanced over and saw that Batman was pinned against the wall by his cape, with playing cards sticking out.

I looked away from the Joker, trying to find a way to get out. I couldn't do anything but wiggle helplessly and hope that my team would stop the madman before I was injected with whatever was in the syringe. I heard Superboy's cries and saw him being held down by M'gann and Artemis, both of them trying to get him to calm down.

Wally and Kaldur were both fighting the soldiers with the guns and a gasped as I saw several darts go into Aqualad. I knew that he was very resistant to poisons and the likes, but I wasn't sure just _how_ resistant he was. Wally was running circles around the weapon wielders, so I wasn't surprised when one of them stuck out his foot and Wally fell over. What did surprise me though was that they then started to shoot Wally, using the same darts as they did on Kaldur. I finally saw the Atlantean collapse and his eyes close.

Several thoughts flew through my head at once and I knew that M'gann and Artemis would be the next targets. I wanted to warn them, but one of the clowns must have read my mind and he placed a hand over my mouth, making sure that I didn't say anything. But I didn't have to, because the next thing I saw was the soldiers picking up Wally and Kaldur's bodies and walking out of the mountain with them. They never came back for Superboy, Artemis, or M'gann.

"Now Robbie, how shall we do this, hmm?" the Joker asked as he finally approached me. It seemed like it took him forever to get close enough to me, but he decided to get closer before continuing, so that his face was directly in front of mine. I felt insulted when he made a point about leaning over to match my height, but my size didn't matter at the moment. "Either we can do it the easy way or the hard way." He motioned to the clown who was covering my mouth, and the hand was removed.

"What would the easy way be?"

He laughed like the maniac he is and replied, "Well the easy way would be for me to just inject this into you, but if you'd like me to, we can save this for later and see what the Batman thinks of your little… predicament."

I didn't say anything, so the Joker decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Ok then," the insane man said. "Let's do this the hard way, then. Ooooh Batsy!"

Batman had escaped from the wall and was now battling Harley, but he knocked the girl off of her feet and glanced over at the Joker and growled, running over and throwing batarangs at the jester.

"Now, now, Batman, that's no way to treat the man who is holding your little protégé hostage, now is it?" the Joker mocked as he glided out of the way of the batarangs. "Besides, I think your aim was a bit off," the man laughed.

"Let him go, Joker," Batman warned.

"Pfffffffft now what would be the fun in that?"

I saw Batman nodding behind me, so I turned my eyes and saw the batarangs coming back around, only not toward the Joker, but at the clowns holding onto me.

I heard three "thunks" and the hands released me. Luckily, the Joker didn't notice as he laughed at Batman. At least I thought he didn't notice, but as I started to run, a white hand caught my cape. I turned around and saw Harley Quinn standing there, giving me an evil grin.

"Sweetheart, I think we should just get him shipped off with the others," Harley said. "The game will be much more fun that way!"

The Joker never turned his eyes away from Batman, but frowned like a little boy not getting ice cream and handed the syringe to Harley. "Take care of it and I'll keep Batsy busy," he said.

She nodded and pulled me closer to her by my cape. I knew that I would have some nasty bruising around my neck from this, but a few bruises were the least of my worries as I saw the syringe coming closer to my bruised neck. She kept and pulling and I kept on struggling, but somehow she ended up being a lot stronger than she looks.

"Nighty night, Bird Boy!" she said as she jabbed the needle into my neck and pushed down on the end.

The effects started right away and I felt my eyes closing. I tried and tried, but they kept sliding shut further and further and I could feel my body going numb. I looked and saw M'gann and Artemis finally getting Conner under control, but he was still fuming. And that was the last thing I remembered as the darkness took over and I was knocked out.

…To be continued…

Ok, I honestly hated writing this… just putting that out there. But after this it's going to get really fun and exciting! XDD Also, I'm thinking this will be 16 chapters at most, which is what most of my stories tend to be, but we'll see how it goes. It might be longer, or it might be shorter. ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok, I was hoping to have this up last night and then the last chapter up Monday night, so my whole schedule is off now because of that stupid blackout… anyway, sorry this took a little while… also, I haven't beta read the last couple of chapters, because I've been busy and wanting to get these things up, so please bare with me on this!

And thank you to everyone who reviewed! XDDDD

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters

Chapter 4

It's like the Darkness in the Light

I awoke to darkness. Well, all I saw was darkness, but there were a lot of bumps, too, which weren't helping my headache. I tried to move my hands, but I found they were tied several times, once behind my back and then again tied to my _ankles_. It was really painful and annoying, because Batman had never taught me how to get out of ropes when I was touching my feet. I also didn't have my gloves on, but I had the rest of my costume somehow, which I found slightly disturbing.

I tried to remember what had happened, but only managed to hit my head on the bottom of whatever I was in. The only thing I could remember was Harley Quinn pulling me toward her by my cape… but when did I get my cape on? I had been in my civvies when the Joker had shown up, but… then it hit me. I had pulled one of those Superman things, whenever Clark had to go save someone, he would just pull his clothes off and BAM! There was that awesome "S" emblem on his chest and his cape flowing behind him. I had actually decided to try it that day, just incase I had to go save anyone, but I don't think I'll do it again, because the cape felt really awkward being squished into my back, but the fact that my sweatshirt was a size too big really helped that.

I flew across the room suddenly, feeling the prison jerk to a stop, but I was surprised when I crashed into someone else.

I was about to speak, but the doors opened and bright moonlight shown in through the opening, making me squint.

"Time for another dose!" Harley Quinn almost screamed as she stretched her arms and legs in the doorway. "Courtesy of Mistah J," the woman hopped up and pulled out yet another syringe.

I tried to back away, but it was really hard to do without the use of the hands or feet. I didn't even pay attention to the other people with me, just at Harley as she approached. She grabbed my cape and held me up by it, letting me dangle as much as I could before the plunged the syringe into my arm. Within seconds it was taking effect yet again and I could feel my eyes closing. I heard some people calling my name, but it didn't matter to me anymore. I found that I didn't even care that I had just been kidnapped by the Joker a few short hours ago, which was weird.

"Robin," I heard. "Robin, wake up."

I rolled over and groaned, "5 more minutes…"

"Robin, dude, wake up before I rip that mask off of your face and tell the world who you are!" Wally threatened.

"Didn't you see my face this morning, Wally?"

I slid one eye open and saw Aqualad staring at Wally in disbelief.

"You saw under the mask?" Kaldur asked.

Wally seemed to shrink beneath the Atlantean's gaze, "well, it was a little peek and it was a total accident and I didn't even see anything!"

"Guys, where are we?" I asked before Aqualad could accuse any further.

"Well…" Kid Flash started, "We don't know."

"We were hoping that you could do that computer thing of yours and figure this out for us," Kaldur explained.

I sat up and looked around, taking in the sky mostly. It was all white, and not with clouds, just naturally white. There were clouds, but they were a grayish color, but the weirdest part was the moon and stars; they were _black._

I held my now-gloved hand up and turned on my holographic computer, but the screen was a mass of colors all mixed together.

I shook my head, "there's no signal."

"Then we'll just have to look for some way back to Mount Justice," Wally said as he started walking.

"Kid Flash, we don't even know where Mount Justice is, let alone where we are. I think it'd be safest to just wait here and see if we run into anyone," Kaldur said.

Just as he finished speaking, an odd creature came running toward us. It was pink and had a pig snout and body, but it had a horn on its head, a long, flowing tail and horse legs.

"What… is that?" Wally asked as the creature skidded to a stop as soon as it passed him.

"I," the creature said in a odd voice, "am a Pigacorn!"

Wally was running and in my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck within a second.

"It spoke!" the speedster shrieked.

"Well yes, don't animals in your world speak as well?" the Pigacorn asked.

"Isn't this our world?" Kaldur asked.

The Pigacorn snorted, "Of course not! Mistah J just left about a half an hour ago and told me to not let you guys out of my sights, and I don't intend to!"

"Yeah, then where were you 5 minutes ago?" Wally asked, finally getting off of me.

"Making sure that everything was ready!"

"Ready for what?" I asked.

"That," the Pigacorn said, raising one hoof to point off into the distance where three figures were walking toward us. "My job is to make sure that you three don't die. Think of this as a strength challenge."

"Who are they?" Wally asked. I could tell that he was starting to panic.

"Those are the people that you have to fight, but I'm not supposed to tell you who they are. You can only fight one opponent though, so don't go cheating and switching opponents on us. Mistah J won't be very happy with me if that happened."

The three figures gradually approached, the five minutes it took them to reach us seemed more like five hours, but finally they reached us, but the people standing before us were _not_ what any of us expected. The three humans standing before us couldn't have been human at all.

They all had red, glowing eyes and stood very stiff, holding their weapons in offence. I froze, unable to move when they stopped before us, unspeaking. Why, do you ask, was I frozen in place like this? It wasn't amazement, nor was I frozen by some mystic power, but because the person right in front of me was, well, me.

…To be continued…

Ok, I know this is a little late, but I had to make a cake… like, really, I was making a cake for my writing group tomorrow and it's just so good. It's called Better than Sex cake and people who eat it tell me that it really is "better than sex." Yeah, awkward little banter there, but anyway, sorry this is late, but hopefully the next one will be up by Saturday. I know it's kind of a long wait, but I want it to be longer and I have a lot of plans for the next couple of days. My friends birthday is on Saturday, so we're going on to dinner Friday night, so… But anyway, I'll stop now…

Please review and I might get it updated sooner! XD


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Oh man, I am SO sorry that this took so long! I got distracted on Saturday and ended up watching Batman Forever and then my sister would NOT let me have the computer yesterday when I was home, so I finally had to make myself stop watching Young Justice and partying to get this done…

Also, just so you aren't confused. The clones are going to be called by the superhero names, while the originals will be their real names, so the clones are Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad, while the originals are Wally, Kaldur and Dick, but since it is written in Dick's pov, it was be said as "I" and "My clone." Haha I was confused writing this, so I wanted to make sure you guys weren't…

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters. If I did, Robin would totally be 15 instead!

Chapter 5

Me, Myself and I

This was insane. Seriously, that was what I said when the imposter of me just stood there, looking at me, red eyes glowing. He looked almost exactly like me, besides the fact that he had glowing red eyes, a red cape and purple and black uniform. The "R" on his badge was pointier and also red and instead of having a retractable stick like I had, he had a giant scythe. The Aqualad and K.F. clones were the same, purple, red and black and Kaldur had much more dangerous looking swords than the original's. The Kid Flash clone didn't have much though, just some terrifying looking spikes on his gloves and boots.

"Now, boys, the rules are simple; kill them before they kill you. No switching opponents, or else I'll have to intervene using these," the Pigacorn said, pointing to rings on our necks that we hadn't noticed before. There was a glowing red light in the middle of the ring. "If any of you try to switch opponents, the fight will be over until tomorrow. The goal of this game is to get to the castle and get out of here, alive or dead."

"Any tips on how to reach the castle? Or where it is, maybe?" I asked, not letting my eyes leave the clones.

"Well it wouldn't be any fun if I told you, now would it?" the Pigacorn asked. "I'll be traveling with you though, but these guys will be hunting you down the whole time, trying to destroy you. If you get separated, I'll be able to clone myself and follow you. Now, any more questions?"

"What happens if we do switch opponents?" Kaldur asked. "How would you intervene?"

"Simple," the Pigacorn said. "My mind is telepathically connected to the rings around each of your necks."

"But what will it do—" Wally started to ask, but the Pigacorn interrupted the speedster, yelling out, "BEGIN!" as loud as he could.

I eyed the clones, waiting for one of them to make the first move. My clone was already attacking Wally with the scythe, but I saw Wally evade easily. The Kid Flash doppelganger started at Kaldur, so I pulled out a batarang and prepared to fight with the Aqualad Clone.

"Find some cover," Kaldur called to us. "We'll find somewhere to hide and make a plan there."

"Great plan, but how do we get these guys away from us?" Wally asked.

"Easy," I said. "Knock 'em down and run!" I threw the batarangs at Aqualad, switching to my retractable sticks as he was stunned and charging forward with them, swinging them until they came in contact and jabbed into his arms.

I knocked him down and chanced a quick glance at Wally, who was running circles around my clone and then finding random moments to kick out or punch the clone. Kaldur was fairing just as well against Kid Flash, who was also running circles. The clones obviously didn't know our tricks or how to take us down, because all Kaldur had to do was stick out a foot in the middle of Kid Flash's path and trip the speed clone, knocking him down.

I turned back to Aqualad when I saw Kaldur pull out his water-bearers. I took my sticks and swung them at Aqualad, hitting him in the arms several times after he got up and finally aiming at his legs. He turned and I aimed at his back, but it was a mistake, because he turned back around, using his own water-bearers in the form of a sword, bringing them down and snapping my sticks in half with one and hitting me square in the chest with the flat of the other.

I could feel the air flying past, wishing I would land, until I finally did. I slid across the ground and felt new scratches coming up all over my back. I heard my cape tear before I finally stopped, grabbing the ground with my hands and digging my fingers in.

"Rob!" Wally yelled. I saw my clone lying on the ground knocked out cold and Kaldur finishing up with Kid Flash. It figured that I would have to be against Aqualad throughout this whole thing.

"I'm ok," I said, getting up with an effort. "Don't intervene." I pulled out more batarangs and threw them at Aqualad, watching as they stuck into his arm. He raised it to his face as if to examine them and they blew up, knocking him down. I jumped forward, pulling out an ordinary batarang and slicing at him several times as he was stunned from the explosion and lying on the ground. His skin was thick, but I was able to slice through and knock him out finally.

"Let's go!" I yelled, sticking the batarang in my belt pocket and running away from the clones as fast as I could, with Kaldur'ahm and Wally close behind me. I could tell that Wally wanted to run faster than he ever had before, but he refrained and ran close beside me on my left, with Kaldur on my right.

"Over there," Kaldur said, pointing to a town a little ways up. "If we run fast enough, we should be able to make it and find somewhere to sit down."

We reached the town in about ten minutes, running as fast as we could, but what we found wasn't what we expected. It was completely empty, but there was a huge banner at the entrance that had the Joker and Harley on it. We paused when we reached the banner and read it.

"We're getting married," Wally read. "Ok, is this anything new, or should this be really nasty?"

"Both," I replied. "The Joker and Harley Quinn have had something going for a while, but was the banner necessary? I mean, there's no one here to see it."

"But there is," the Pigacorn said, running up to us and skidding to a stop, dragging up some dirt with him as his hooves dug through the ground. "The people of this town are invisible, but don't worry, they aren't violent. They won't hurt you unless you hurt them, so you're going to need these," he stood on his hind legs and jumped around awkwardly for a moment before several pairs of weird goggles appeared and fell to the ground in front of him.

"Whoa, now you can do magic?" Wally asked.

"I thought you didn't believe in magic," Kaldur said.

"You don't believe in magic, Wally?" I asked,

"We'll explain when we get out of here," Kaldur said. The Atlantean bent over and picked up the goggles, handing each of us a pair.

"With these, you'll be able to see the townspeople," the Pigacorn said, adding an odd snort at the end.

Wally backed away slowly, but stopped when he bumped something. He turned around and screamed.

Kaldur and I both looked behind us to see what he was screaming about, expecting another weird animal, but instead, it was hundreds of people filing out of the village, all starting to crowd around us.

The people seemed normal enough until they got close to us, then we saw that they're faces were contorted into huge grins and they're eyes were almost completely closed, as if they were forced to smile all day.

"Hello," an older woman said, walking up to us and taking Kaldur's hand in her own. They seemed human enough, so we relaxed a little, but still kept our guard up.

"Hello, ma'am," Kaldur said. "We are searching for a place to stay for tonight."

"Yes, I know," the woman said kindly. "No one stays outside after dark anymore, with those spies of Mister J around."

"The Joker?" I asked.

The woman turned to me," Yes, some call him that, but whatever you call him, he's bad news!"

"How long has he been here?" Kaldur asked.

"Oh, he showed up about a week ago, saying that he needed our land for some evil plot he had. He started cutting down trees and collapsing out caves and mines, saying that they could shield people that he needed for a game."

"He's been planning this then," I muttered. "The clues weren't just sudden, they were all planned out, which means that we've been targets for much longer than we thought."

"Excuse me, miss, is there any way out of this world?" Wally asked.

The woman looked at Wally as if he were insane, so Kaldur decided to specify for her, "We're from a different world and the Joker took us here against our will. Do you know if there could be any way back to our world?"

The woman nodded and seemed to think for a moment before answering, "Well, there is one way… a painting that has been passed down for generations."

"What's it a painting of?" Wally asked.

"Some odd town called 'Gotham City' in another world. Have you heard of it?"

I nodded, "That's where I'm from." Kaldur and Wally looked at me like I had just spilled some huge secret. "What? It's kind of obvious that I live there, seeing as how Batman and I do patrol there every night!"

"Oh yeah…" Wally said, before turning back to the woman.

"Ma'am—" Kaldur started, but was cut off by the woman.

"Please, call me Ann."

"Ok, Ann, would it be possible for us to stay here tonight?"

"Ooh, of course!" Ann said, instantly shooing the crowd out of our way and leading us to a small house. "Here I was just standing around chatting and it's getting dark out!"

"I thought it was night," I said as I glanced at the black moon in the white sky.

"Oh, well it is, but it's not dark yet. It's dark during the day and light at night!"

I stood for a moment, trying to comprehend what Ann had said. I hated having a brain that had to figure out everything, but I figured it out quickly; it was just slightly confusing and I was beginning to feel whelmed.

As we continued to walk through the town, I realized that my head I hurting, but I put it aside. It was probably a side effect of that slide, so I knew it would pass.

"Here we are," she said, opening the door and walking inside. "I know it's not much, but it's one of the oldest houses my people created!"

"It's nice," Kaldur said.

"And small," Wally added, but Kaldur and I both hit him on the head. "I-I mean quaint!"

"We'll be out of here by the night," Kaldur said.

"Stay as long as you would like," Ann said, leading us into a bedroom that held a single king size bed. "I'm sorry that the room isn't much, but I don't have guests very often."

The three of us stared in aw at the bed. I had a full size bed back at the manor and so id Bruce, but I had never seen a king size bed before in my life and it was huge!

"Have a good day," Ann said before leaving the room and closing the door behind us.

"I so call the bed!" Wally cried, running over and plopping down on it.

"We'll share the bed," Kaldur said. "It's big enough."

I sat down and rubbed my temple, willing the headache to go away.

"Are you ok, Rob?" Wally asked, sitting down next to me. "You took a really major spill earlier."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just a headache, that's all."

"Or a concussion!" Wally exclaimed, reaching his hand up to the back of my head.

"Wally, what're you—" I paused when I saw the blood red on his glove. I pulled off my glove and reached the back of my head, feeling for more blood and sure enough, there it was, very slowly oozing out of a huge gash.

"I'll get some bandages," Kaldur said, leaving the room and coming back a minute later with Ann following behind him, holding a roll of bandages in one hand.

"Do you need any help?" she asked, handing the roll to Kaldur.

"No thank you, we should be just fine," Kaldur said.

"What about that cape of yours?" she asked, pointing to my cape. I glanced down and saw the giant hole in the shoulder of it. "I could fix it for you if you'd like, so you won't have to travel in a torn cloak."

I shrugged and took it off before Kaldur could start wrapping the fabric around my head, "Have at it."

Ann smiled even larger and left the room, closing the door and humming softly to herself.

"Are you feeling any other pain, Robin?" Kaldur asked.

"Really, I'm fine."

"Ok," Kaldur said, finishing wrapping my head and putting the roll on a side table. "We should get some sleep now, so that we'll be prepared for tomorrow. We'll make a plan before we go."

Kid Flash and I both nodded and we all got into the bed. I thought it was be awkward at first, but it ended up not being too bad. The bed was big enough, so we all had a good amount of space.

I started thinking about Bruce and how worried he must have been, until I finally drifted off to sleep.

…To be continued…

Ok, again, I'm sorry that this took so long, but I ended up actually being gone all day on Sunday… Haha I really need to get better about getting stuff done if I'm gonna go to school in the fall, because at this point, I may not do so hot…


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, I hate how these updates have been taking longer now… I will not be able to update again until at least Sunday, cuz I have a 2 day concert with my church Friday through Saturday, so don't be expecting anything, unless it's like, Saturday night or something, but I'm probably gonna be to tired to update then… Also, ever heard of Hawk Nelson? He's gonna be at this concert, so I'm gonna have him sign my elbow ;)

Chapter 6

Giants Roam the Land Today

We set off early the next night, as soon as the moon was up. Ann sowed my cape up and gave it back before we left. It wasn't bullet proof in the places that she had to fix, but it still looked better than before we met her. The Pigacorn, of course, was on top of us as soon as we left the village.

"So are you going to tell us if we're going in the right direction or anything?" Wally asked as we walked through a grey and black forest.

"You know the rules," the creature replied. "I can't tell you anything; I'm just the guide to make sure that you follow the rules."

"Dude, that's lame!" Wally complained.

"Wally, we can find our way out on our own," I started, but paused when a weird sound erupted through the air. "What's that?"

"Just the cats," the Pigacorn said.

"Cats?" I asked.

"Yeah, very territorial people, just don't bother them and they won't attack you."

"Attack?" Wally asked.

"Calm down, Kid Flash, we'll be fine," Kaldur said. "Just stay quiet and watch where you step."

I glanced down and saw giant roots sticking out of the ground.

"This place keeps getting weirder and weirder," I muttered. "I am officially whelmed."

"Really?" Wally screamed. "You're still on that?"

"Shhhh!" we all shushed him at the same time and paused, listening for something.

"What?" Wally asked.

"The cats aren't very fond of loud noises," the Pigacorn whispered.

"Uh, guys?" I said. "Neither are they!" I pointed at the three figures jumping through the trees, two of them holding weapons, the other with spiked gloves and shoes.

"Run!" Kaldur ordered and we did just that. We bolted out as fast as we could, the Pigacorn following behind us, obviously not worried about the clones.

A thumping sound was heard on all sides of us and several growls followed.

"The cats!" the Pigacorn screamed, picking up the pace. "Get out of here quickly! Mistah J doesn't want the game ruined!"

"Um, in case you didn't notice, we're not that worried about the Joker right now!" Wally said. "I think our lives are more important than his entertainment!"

"Then run, idiot!" the Pigacorn yelled. "If you're so worried about your life, theng et out before they catch us!"

We all sped up and before I knew it, there was a throbbing pain in my foot and I was going face-first into the dirt path. I caught a glance of a huge root sticking out that I hadn't noticed before. As I braced myself to fall, I felt arms wrap around me and looked up to see Wally facing straight ahead, looking more serious and determined than I had ever seen him.

"Hope you don't mind, but we gonna run," he said and sped up.

"What about Aqualad?" I asked.

"I got him!" I heard the Pigacorn say as he sped up next to us, Kaldur sitting on his back as if he were riding him like a horse.

"Why are you helping us?" Kaldur asked.

"We'll talk later," the Pigacorn said. "How about we find out if we're going to live, before we discuss this."

The three of us nodded and continued on our way. The growling grew quieter, but Kid Flash was following us quickly, the sound of his feet pounding on the ground barely audible as the wind rushed past my face.

About 10 minutes later, Wally shifted me so that he could get a chocolate bar out of his glove and eat it. I hated having him carrying me when I was perfectly capable, but I knew that it would take longer if I decided to pull a Batman and be stubborn about it.

After about another ten minutes, we were out of the forest and away from the cats. The Pigacorn told us that they wouldn't follow us out of their territory, so all we had to worry about was the clones, but Kid Flash was falling behind quickly, so we sped up and found a cave inside of a mountain that we ducked into.

Wally was exhausted when we finally stopped, so he set me down and plopped onto the hard, dirt covered floor.

"Now, about saving us," Kaldur said.

"Because the clones weren't what I was saving you from, Mistah J will be fine with my intervention."

"But the clones were chasing us when you intervened," I pointed out.

"Yes, but I was protecting you from the cats, so as long as I didn't intend to intervene with the clones, it is perfectly fine."

Wally was about to say something but was cut off by the ground shaking underneath us. "What was that?" Wally asked.

The Pigacorn froze and thought, "That would be the Giants."

"Giants?" the three of us asked quietly.

"They run these mountains. They aren't any threat, unless you walk under their feet, then you'll be smooshed, but besides that, they don't care who ducks in here."

After resting another 10 minutes, we got up to move, in order to stay clear of the clones. As we exited the cave, Wally started to run back and forth, scouting out the area. But as he ran back toward us, the last thing we expected happened.

He was running back and about to cross the dirt road and into the cave, when long, red legs came around the corner. The giant foot about to drop right where Wally was about to run.

…to be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Ok, sorry for the wait guys! Just to warn you now, this chapter may suck like Kraft cheese singles, but that's because I need to get this done quickly, cuz I may not have any more chances for a while, so if it takes a while for the next chapter, just know that I'm probably busy being reminded of how I'm a failure to some people…

Anyway, the title of this chapter comes from my friend Cassidy… she said I could use it if I credited it to her, sooooooo…

Disclaimer: I need to get better at posting these, but I always forget… I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters. The end, now I have a little over 20 minutes to get on with this, so…

Chapter 7

Sanity is Over Rated

We all thought that Wally was a goner… ok, I thought that he was a goner, while Kaldur just seemed to stand there, not really worrying about Wally being smooshed or not. I glanced over and realized why he wasn't worried about Wally; Kid Flash was on top of him, holding the spikes of one of his gloves against Kaldur's throat.

I looked back and Wally and saw my clone there as well, throwing Wally out of the way and taking up a fighting stance, holding his scythe in offence. I quickly pulled out my sticks, looking frantically for Aqualad. He appeared soon enough, but from behind, so he threw me into the woods.

I got to my feet quickly, ignoring the returning pain in my head. I picked up my sticks from the ground and got ready to battle Aqualad. I glanced and saw Wally already throwing punches at my clone and Kaldur kicking Kid Flash in the… well, it looked painful.

"Oh boy, another battle!" the Pigacorn snorted, obviously getting excited.

Aqualad was on top of me yet again, within seconds, slashing with his water-bearers, which were in the shape of spears. I kept on blocking with my sticks, but I could feel them weakening with every smash of the water spear. I had to make a plan and fast. Aqualad was pushing me into the woods and I couldn't even see where Wally and Kaldur were anymore, so I focused on blocking the attacks of the Atlantean clone.

"You're out of your league here," the clone said, causing me to stop my blocking for a brief second, trying to figure out how the clone had spoken—I didn't think that they were incapable of speaking, but I wasn't expecting it in the middle of a battle—but it proved to be my undoing as the clone took the opportunity to smash me across the chest with the flat of a sword.

And then I guess this is where I started before. Y'know, flying through the air, the wind rushing past, trying to figure out where Kaldur and Wally were and all that other fun stuff. Oh yeah and that wall I told you about? Now that I think about it, it was actually a tree, which would make much more sense, seeing as how I was in a forest.

I ran all of Kaldur's moves through my mind, trying to remember a time when the enemy was able to get the water-bearers of out his hands, but it only made my head hurt more. I finally came up with a plan, but it was risky. I knew that if it didn't work, then I would be dead, but it was worth a shot.

I was barely aware of a Pigacorn clone running toward us—excitement obvious on his face—as I prepared for what may have been my last battle.

I pulled out two new sticks, being unable to find my other ones, but knowing that they were probably lying broken on the ground somewhere. I tracted them and got into position. I knew it was crazy, but this was Insane Land, so it didn't matter. I ran toward Aqualad, screaming like a madman and spinning my sticks. I jabbed at him several times, drawing his attention away from my hands and sticks and toward where he was being jabbed at, forcing him to go on the defense. As he was distracted, I retracted one of the sticks and threw it at his head, causing him to turn his attention to that, sending the other stick not even a second later. I reached into my utility belt and pulled out six batarangs—holding three in each hand, in between my fingers—and throwing them at the Atlantean clone's hands, right where he was gripping the water-bearers. I was now unarmed and could only rely on the distraction of him blocking my sticks. I held my breath, waiting, taking several steps back.

The batarangs seemed to fly in slow-motion as they headed toward the fingers and knuckles, and the movement of Aqualad's arms seemed to sow as well, making it seem like an hour before it finally hit. I closed my eyes, unable to watch as my last attempt to defeat the clone failed… and then something happened that I didn't expect; a cry of pain and the sound of four objects dropping to the ground before a bigger, heavier thing fell.

I chanced a glance up and saw what I had been silently praying I would see; Aqualad on the ground, his teeth clenched in pain as his hands bled out all over the grass. I almost forgot that it wasn't really Kaldur and was about to help him when I heard growling coming from inside the trees.

Aqualad laughed darkly, "well, well, little Robin, what will you do now?" he asked. "You seem to have gotten rid of my… water-bearers and rendered my hands useless, therefore taking me out of the game… for now, but what will you do about the… cats? They get might hungry and… the smell of blood just might get their attention even more… I thought Batman would have taught you to see… where you were battling before you went and drew blood from some—" he didn't get to finish the sentence as a giant cat leapt from the trees and pounced on him, roaring and gnashing it's teeth. The next thing I heard was a munching sound and I felt my legs start to give out underneath me.

I couldn't move. I tried, I knew that I had to run, to get away before the cat came to me, but I couldn't, not while someone who looked just like one of my best friends was being eaten alive. I knew it was just a clone, but I couldn't help it. I had seen some bad things working with Batman, but never this bad.

The next thing I knew, the cat was turning his head and glaring at me, flashing his blood-soaked teeth and snarling. The cat looked even more terrifying now, as blood dripped down his whiskers, nose and mouth.

My legs finally turned to complete Jell-O, almost like ice cream melting slowly until it finally became that weird, flavored cream stuff with toppings in it. I fell down onto my butt, but I didn't care; I was focusing on the giant cat and nothing would get my gaze off of it. I was going to die. I knew when attacking Aqualad that there was a risk of death, but now there was no risk, just the sad, hard truth that I was about to be eaten alive.

The cat let Aqualad drop and started walking away, so I finally saw the damage that the cat had done to him. His face was totally mutilated and his stomach was torn open, flesh ripped off of his arms and shoulders. What was left of his face was mostly his mouth and I saw him smiling at me and mouth the words, "I win."

I finally got snapped back into reality when the cat started to advance on me. All I could do was back away and delay the inevitable, which was stupid, because it just gave me more time to be afraid.

I settled on backing away, but I felt like a coward as I was whimpering and sobbing as I crawled away from the cat, almost doing to crab-walk. I thought of my parents. It was a plus in dieing, that I would finally be able to see them again after the long, four years. But seeing my parents meant never seeing Bruce or my friends again. Never being able to put on the Robin costume and go to fight crime, though after this, I knew that Batman wouldn't have let me go out for at least a month, maybe more and he would have become really protective over me.

I wanted to take off my mask at this moment, scream to the world I was in that I was Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's adoptive son, but I knew that no one would hear, or even care here. I finally found myself backed into a tree and I knew that I was done. The cat was slowly pacing back and forth in front of me until two more cats came out. I spared a glance at the Pigacorn, but he wasn't there. He must have run off in fear of being killed, no matter what the Joker's orders were.

I prayed a silent prayer that I would end up where my parents were, because if I wasn't, dieing wouldn't be worth it. I watched the cat that had killed Aqualad intensely until he finally pounced. I braced myself for death, closing my eyes and praying that being eaten alive wouldn't hurt… too bad.

...To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, an update this soon? Why yes! I was going to wait, but I realized that I myself needed closure as to what was going to happen next, haha. Also, I'm starting to lose my self control about watching the Vampire's Assistant… I started reading the books after watching the movie and decided that I wasn't going to watch it again until I finished the series, but I just finished book 9 of 12 and I seriously can't wait anymore!

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters… I do own this awesome cat sitting in my arms and snuggling right now, though…

Chapter 8

At Least I'm not like all Those Other Old Guys

The cat pounced on me, opening its jaw as wide as it could. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, ready to die at any minute. But it didn't come.

"Carlos!" the voice of an old man yelled. "Get away from him! You just had your lunch!"

I was panting hard when I heard the cat stop in mid-pounce and start to retreat into the woods, the other two following quickly, as if they would be in big trouble if they didn't get out right then and there.

My vision was blurry and I felt the adrenaline suddenly leave my body, almost like the dirty water running out of a dishwasher when it emptied. I felt like crap and tried to keep my eyes open as I felt darkness taking over my senses.

"You OK, kid?" the old man asked, but I couldn't respond. The man was now leaning down in front of me, a worried expression on his face and he kept mouthing words to me that I couldn't hear. I finally let the darkness take me and felt my eyes close.

I awoke in a hard bed with hard pillows and a scratchy sheet. Something was spinning, whether it was the room or my head, I couldn't tell, but the concussion was starting to make itself known to me again as my head throbbed where the gash was.

"You ok, son?" a voice asked. I glanced over and saw the old man there, sitting next to the bed with a worried expression. He had dark skin, white hair and a white beard and mustache. His face was lined with wrinkles and his clothes weren't any better off, covered in wrinkles and stains.

"I'm fine," I said, sitting up and rubbing the back of my head. The bandages that Kaldur had put on were still dry, so I knew that there wasn't any more bleeding going on, which was a plus.

"Are you now?" he asked. "Because when I brought you in here, you were crying like a baby."

I felt my cheeks turn red, noting that Batman couldn't hear about that, "well, I'm fine now," I almost whispered.

"Ok then," the man said, obviously unsure. "What were you doing out in that forest by yourself? Or was the dead kid out there your friend?"

Everything rushed back to me at once, causing my head to hurt even more.

"He wasn't my friend," I said. "He was trying to kill me, which is why I was out there."

"You do know the dangers of this forest, right?" he asked.

"I know about the cats, but as you can see, I didn't have very much of a choice but to come in here."

"Cats?" the man asked, as if in deep thought. "Oh! You mean Carlos and his gang! Don't worry about them; when I'm around, they can't get anywhere near you. Those are my pets, actually. But I'm talking about the _real_ dangers in these woods."

"What would that be?" I asked.

"The ghost clowns that haunt these woods," he replied.

"Ghost clowns?" I asked.

"They show up during the day, but if you disturb them enough, than they'll come out at night and attack. They showed up shortly after that odd man with the green hair did."

"The Joker?" I asked, not at all surprised when the man nodded. "Look, sir—"

"Call me Steve," he said, interrupting me.

"Ok, Steve… look, I have to get going. I'm really grateful to you for helping me out back there, but I need to find my friends."

"You have friends here?"

I nodded, "the Joker trapped us in this world, saying that he created it."

"The Joker, as you call him, had nothing to do with the creation of this world! But no matter; your friends cannot be out there alone right now. Get some rest and I will find them."

"I'm going with you," I said. "They won't trust you."

"No, I'm going alone. Where were they last?"

I wanted to argue, but realized that Steve wouldn't give in, so I told him that Wally and Kaldur had last been seen at the Giant's mountain.

"If your friends are still there, then I'll be back within the half hour, but don't let anyone inside unless you want to die."

With that said, Steve left, locking the door behind him. I saw him take the key out of his pocket before he left, so I knew it could only be unlocked from the outside, which meant that I was stuck there for a while.

I finally started to fall asleep when I heard the lock turning from the outside. Voices followed and I immediately heard Wally blabbering on and on about nonsense. The door eventually opened and Wally and Kaldur walked in, followed by Steve, who closed and locked the door.

"Whoa," Wally said as he stared at me. "What happened to you? Eaten by a cat?"

I couldn't help but laugh, "actually, I almost was."

Wally's smile faded and looked as thought he couldn't figure out why I would be laughing, but Kaldur smiled.

"All that matters is that you're alive," the Atlantean said.

I shakily stood and hugged my friends, smiling the whole time.

"What's so funny?" Wally finally asked.

"Well, if I died, then Batman would see to that the Joker wasn't the only one punished for this."

Wally and Kaldur paled, obviously understanding the joke, but not finding it very funny.

"Thank you for taking care of him," Kaldur said, shaking Steve's hand. "We must be off; we need to get back to our world before it's too late."

I also shook Steve's hand and thanked him yet again.

"Now boys, get out of the forest as fast as you can, before the ghosts come out and don't disturb the trees if you can help it, because they tend to camp out in them, waiting until day time when they can attack the unexpecting travelers. Keep to the roads as much as possible, no matter what that guide of yours tells you."

We nodded and for the first time I realized that the Pigacorn hadn't come inside, probably because he knew I would be mad about him leaving me behind for the cats.

"He has helped us this far, so we will follow him where he leads us for now," Kaldur said.

"I simply do not wish to see harm come to you three. If he really is working for the Joker, then you can never be too careful. Don't forget that he already left one of you behind in order to save his own tail."

"We will tread carefully," Kaldur confirmed as Steve was opening the door.

"Well, with that said, be careful and don't go getting into anymore trouble. I can keep Carlos and his gang off of you for now, but that's just about all I can do."

When we exited the house, the Pigacorn didn't say anything to us, simply nodded to us and we went on our way, in search of the Joker's castle.

…To be continued…

A/N: Wow… I started writing this morning, so this one took me a while… I didn't really like this one very much, but I had to move it along somewhere. I'm think that this will be anywhere between 14 and 16 chapters long and then an epilogue, so just let me know what you think. C:


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: YAY! Yet again, quick update, surprise, surprise! I won't have very much time to write tomorrow and I wanted to get this going somewhere after the last chapter, because it basically bored me to death.

**Jedi Ani Unduli **mentioned Robin having yet another near-death experience, so I just need to share that I was trying to be really good and **not** put him close to death, but JAU, you set me off, so there just may be something, but I'm not positive… C:

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters… besides the Pigacorn, but, y'know, he's kind of an awesome jerk…

Chapter 9

The Insane Wasteland

We found a hotel to stay in for the day and then set off again. I went this way for a week, which was really painful. We were taking our time during the night, because Aqualad was worried about my head injury, but it didn't start bleeding again since that first night at Ann's house. The clones weren't showing up—I discovered that my clone and Kid Flash weren't defeated—but we kept an eye out for them, just in case.

"Where is this place?" I asked as we walked out of a thick, vegetated forest into a desert-like area.

"The Insane Wasteland," the Pigacorn said.

Wally pointed to the top of a hill at the very edge of the wasteland, "what's up there?"

"That's Mistah J's castle," the Pigacorn said solemnly. Get through the wasteland and all you'll have to do is get into the castle and get to Mistah J."

"And then we get to go home?" I asked.

The Pigacorn nodded, causing Wally to start bouncing up and down and running in circles faster than I had ever seen him run before.

"What's the catch?" Aqualad asked, receiving an odd glance from the Pigacorn. "What's in this wasteland?"

"It's full of the unstable people from all of the villages. If someone starts acting up or if they go insane, they're sent here where they die after a few weeks, unless they get their hands on some unfortunate traveler and then they last a little longer."

"You mean they…" Wally started, unable to finish the sentence with his joy from seconds before fading quickly.

"Cook 'em up and eat 'em!" the Pigacorn finished.

Wally turned considerably pale, but Kaldur simply brushed it off, advising that we stay away from the insane people at all costs.

So off we went, walking through the wasteland as fast as we could, but being sure not to tire ourselves out.

The first night and day were fairly simple—we couldn't stop to rest, so we had to walk through the day—and we made it about half way through by the next day, but that was when things got bad.

We were fairing well until we saw the glowing red dots coming out of a fog that had fallen. I hadn't heard of fog in a desert, but I ignored it, seeing as how this was Insane Land.

"Do you see that?" I asked, pointing of into the distance. I had seen the dots first as watched as they got closer and closer, as though every step we took, the dots took two.

"Probably some people noticing us finally," the Pigacorn said. "Don't worry; if you stay far enough away, they won't get you. It's pretty easy to outrun them if you have to."

We simply nodded and continued on our way, but then they dots kept on getting closer and closer until I could see a glint reflecting off of something metal from the white sun.

"I don't think those are normal insane people," I said, "Unless they carry spears with them."

Before anyone could react, as if on cue, a blur of red and purple came rushing at Kaldur, smacking him square in the jaw and sending him flying backwards, followed about a minute later by my evil twin, spinning the scythe and charging at Kid Flash, who saw the attack coming and easily stepped out of the way.

All I could do was watch helplessly as my best friends battled with the clones. Having Aqualad defeated meant that I had no one to battle and I wasn't allowed to intervene.

I decided to watch the battle between Wally and myself, because it wasn't very exciting to watch Kaldur fighting Kid Flash. I saw my clone throwing several punches at Wally, but the speedster moved out of the way before they came anywhere near hitting him, eventually grabbing the clones hand as he threw a punch and twisting it until there was a sickening pop that echoed through the wasteland.

I couldn't help but smirk as my clone cried out in pain and Wally started doing a happy dance while singing some nonsense about winning. I turned my attention to Kaldur who was fairing well against Kid Flash, despite the speed difference between the two.

Kid Flash was lashing out at Kaldur, who had enough training with Wally to be prepared to block at any time, which he was doing very nicely. Kid Flash apparently realized that his punches weren't working as a frontal assault and started to run circles around Kaldur, getting closer and closer with every lap. Eventually, he got too close and Kaldur stuck out a foot and tripped the clone, sending the speedster onto his back.

"He got your brains, Wally!" I cried out, earning an insulted "what?" from the speedster as he faced off against my clone.

I noticed how the clone wasn't using his right hand—the one that Wally and injured—and figured that it must have been dislocated, with the weird way that it was bent. The clone finally pulled out the huge scythe and started swinging at Wally, one-handed, though the speedster was still able to back out of the way with ease, only coming out with a couple minor scratches.

I could tell that my clone was getting aggravated and started lashing out blindly, trying to hit his target. But the worst part was that he got close enough to slash my best friend across the chest, stabbing into the flesh.

Well, he would have, had I not jumped in and knocked him over. I saw the move coming and ignored the fact that I wasn't allowed to intervene and jumped in, knocking my clone to the ground before the blade could slash through my best friend.

I heard Wally call my name and saw his face in front of mine, looking worried. I couldn't respond though, or do anything but flail around on the ground as I felt my body convulse. I got sand in my mouth a couple of times, which was really gross, but I wasn't as focused on that as the fact that I had no control of my body and after a minute or two, I couldn't even think straight anymore.

"Kaldur, we need to go!" I distantly heard Wally shouting.

"Hang on, Wally," Kaldur replied and I heard a grunt of pain and the sound of blood spilling out and dripping onto the ground. With my body moving everywhere, I ended up being able to glance over and see Kid Flash on the ground, blood pooling around him.

I then started to hear shrieks in the distance, getting closer quickly and I heard the Pigacorn say something about the insane people coming. I blacked out after that though, only feeling Wally lifting me up into his arms.

When I awoke, the first thing I saw was Kaldur sitting on the Pigacorn as the creature ran, the Atlantean with an angry expression on his face. I slightly glanced up and saw that Wally had the same expression oh pure anger.

"Wally?" I groaned, barely able to work my voice.

"Rob?" the speedster asked, screeching to a halt, the Pigacorn stopping shortly after.

"Why are you holding on to tight?" I asked.

"Well, you were kind of spazzing out for the past three hours, so I didn't really have much of a choice but to hold onto you in order to keep you from slapping me in the face."

I couldn't help but smile at my friend as he set me on the ground, steadying me when I almost fell. "What happened?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" Kaldur asked, sending the Pigacorn a glare.

"I remember you guys were fighting, but nothing else."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Enter the Lord of Destruction

When I awoke, the first thing I saw was Kaldur sitting on the Pigacorn as the creature ran, the Atlantean with an angry expression on his face. I slightly glanced up and saw that Wally had the same expression oh pure anger.

"Wally?" I groaned, barely able to work my voice.

"Rob?" the speedster asked, screeching to a halt, the Pigacorn stopping shortly after.

"Why are you holding on to tight?" I asked.

"Well, you were kind of spazzing out for the past three hours, so I didn't really have much of a choice but to hold onto you in order to keep you from slapping me in the face."

I couldn't help but smile at my friend as he set me on the ground, steadying me when I almost fell. "What happened?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" Kaldur asked, sending the Pigacorn a glare.

"I remember you guys were fighting, but nothing else."

"Hey, I was just doing my job," the Pigacorn said, raising his front hooves up in defense. "You intervened in someone else's battle so I did what I was told to do."

"Oh well, let's keep moving," Kaldur said. "We should reach the castle by tomorrow night."

"We'll get there faster if we run," the Pigacorn said.

"No need to waste out energy," Wally said. "I'm running out of juice."

"They don't care," the Pigacorn said, pointing off into the distance at glowing red eyes.

"That guy again?" Wally groaned.

"Not Robin, them!" Kaldur said, motioning to the glowing red eyes popping up all around us.

"Get on!" the Pigacorn ordered Kaldur'ahm and the Atlantean jumped onto his back and the beast started running. Wally leaned over and allowed me to get onto his back as he ran, quickly catching up with the Pigacorn.

It was a few hours until we finally made it to the gates of the castle. We didn't stop at all, but we did slow down when Wally started running out of juice, but we made it.

"This is where I say goodbye, boys," the Pigacorn said. "On top of this hill you'll find the castle and also the way out."

"Thank you for leading us here," Kaldur said.

"It's my job," he replied as tears started forming in his eyes.

"Don't cry!" Wally said as he set me down finally.

"I promised myself I wouldn't!" he whimpered as tears started streaming down his soft face.

"We don't have time for this," I said. "We need to get into the castle."

The gates opened eerily as I said it, creaking loudly as the rusted metal rubbed against the fence.

"Well then," the Pigacorn said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Goodbye boys. Have fun storming the castle!"

We started up the mountain at a steady pace and reached the top in about ten minutes. Kaldur tried opening the door, but found it locked, which was to be expected, so I pulled on the door knocker—which weighed about 50 pounds!—and let it go, letting it slam into the door and make a loud knocking sound.

Just then we noticed a "J" carved into the wood above the door and how it lit up when the knocker was let go. Before we could react, electricity burst out of it and attacked all of us. The last thing I remembered was the door opening and the Joker walking out the smile on his face even bigger than it had been when he first kidnapped us.

…To be continued…

A/N: Ok, I am SO sorry that this took so long! Like, I really am, but I got busy and then I got writers block, so I had to force myself to write this today and get it posted, but luckily that got me out of the writers block! I have about a page of the next chapter written already, so I'll try to get that posted when I can, but I'm gone all day tomorrow and Monday, but I can hopefully get some of it done on Tuesday or something, because I don't have youth group because it's Holy Week. But anyway, whoever can tell me where the Pigacorn's last words came from will get something… I saw this done before, so I think I might just let you pick something to happen in a later chapter! X) It won't happen in the next, but probably the one after that or something, depending on how soon you answer and what it is… X) Reviews keep the muse going!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: HAPPY EASTER! Yes, I know it's been a while, but I have been busy… really, I have been. I've had my niece and nephew here and I spent the week cleaning and doing stuff with friends and my confirmation class, because I had to do a service project in order to be confirmed, which is going to happen in a couple of weeks! Woohoo! Anyway, hope you enjoy this. I know it's a little short, but I wanted to get it up. Also, as you noticed, I've been using quotes from the some Disturbia by Rihanna a lot… it just seems to fit with this story, haha

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the line from Disturbia in the title… I just love the show and the song…

Chapter 11

Better Think Twice, Your Train of Thought will be Altered

I was getting really tired of waking up in awkward situations, but this one had to trump all. It beat those times I was knocked out when I first became Robin and I would get kidnapped at least once a week, it seemed. But this time was by far the worst, because all of those creeps were kind enough to leave my clothes on and also to not shove their faces into mine until I came to. This was why I hated the Joker…

The only thing left on was my mask, which I found extremely weird, because the Joker has always wondered who me and Batman really are. I decided to let it go, though, because with the mask I didn't feel completely naked.

I felt the urge to ask why I didn't have my costume anymore, but then I felt something pricking my toes and I figured out why; I was being examined. There was a doctor working around the Joker, pricking me in several different places. He ended up taking blood at one point, but I didn't notice it very much, because I was focusing on the Joker's face. The Clown Prince obviously didn't realize that I was conscious, because he just sat there staring at my face in anticipation.

I was careful about now wincing or anything as the doctor pricked my finger tips, in order to be sure that they didn't realize I was awake. I knew that if they did, then I would be in a world of pain. And then there would be laughing gas… lots and LOTS of laughing gas!

But sadly, my façade couldn't last… I think they actually did know that I was awake, because the doctor started getting a little _too_ touchy and I couldn't help but gasp. And then all hell broke lose.

"Ooooooooh Robbie, you're awake!" Joker screamed, shoving away the doctor, who had stopped feeling around as soon as he heard me. "I didn't think I hit you that hard, but maybe I should have lowered the voltage a bit..."

"Where are my friends?" I asked.

"Oh, they're somewhere in here. You don't have to worry about them, though; they're in the safe hands on Christmas."

"You mean Cadmus?" I corrected.

"Oh whatever, doesn't matter. You're the only one I get, because they figured it would be 'fairer,' or something," Joker replied, using air quotes on the last word.

"Or why don't you just let us go?" I asked. "We played your game and got to the end, so why won't you let us go?"

"Oh, but Robbie, you haven't reached the end! The end is after you escape me. If you and your friends can get out of the rooms that you are held in and reach the downstairs hall, then you are free to leave."

"So all we have to do is get downstairs?"

Joker nodded, "but first we get to have a little fun."

The doctor walked over holding a syringe with a purple liquid inside of it.

"We'll start off small, but maybe we'll get even bigger later on," Joker said, holding up the syringe to the crevice in my arm and jabbed it in.

My mind went numb and all thoughts were cut off and I couldn't think straight anymore. I had no control over my body, either, and I felt myself start to convulse, shaking violently and my arms pulling against the chains on the wrists. And then the laughter started and I couldn't figure out why. I couldn't think straight and yet I was laughing so hard about it.

I barely registered the Joker laughing manically as he pulled down what looked like a head restraint and shoved my head into the metal box, keeping it from moving of it's own free will. After that was done, he walked over to a surgical table in the corner and pulled a styrofoam plate off a it. On the plate was a puddle of red paint and the Joker handed the plate of to the doctor, who oddly enough pulled out a paintbrush and dipped it into the paint. I discovered that I could still feel things as the cold paint was slathered onto my face and around my mouth. What they were doing to me, I had no clue, but it made me laugh even harder.

"You gave him too much," the doctor said, though I could barely understand him through the haze and fit of laughter.

"Oh nonsense!" Joker snapped. "Too much would have killed him! Give it about 5 minutes and it'll die down!"

Sure enough, everything suddenly stopped seeming as funny and eventually I was pulled back into reality as the laughing drug wore off. I was out of breath by the time it finally stopped and I was sucking in deep gasps of air. Joker had said that the doses would get bigger later on and as soon as the haze completely cleared, I began thinking of how to escape. I know it was selfish, but I wasn't as worried about Wally and Kaldur, but only because the Joker wasn't allowed near them, so they had a slightly higher chance of survival.

"Oh the things I have planned now!" Joker screeched, breaking my train of thought. I raised my eyes and saw him clapping his hands together and walking toward me.

"Mister J, may I advise that we wait until the boy is more… accustomed to the treatment."

"Oh why do you have to be so boring all the time?"

"I simply wish to keep the boy alive. He will be more likely to obey if he sees that we are not going to destroy him."

The Joker seemed to consider it. I had absolutely no idea what they could be talking about, but then his constant smile widened and he snapped his fingers as if he just had a light bulb turn on above his head. "This is why you were assigned to assist, me, chap!"

The doctor bowed and headed to the door, hitting a switch on the wall and opening the door.

"We'll be back later, Robbie," Joker said, coming close to me and removing the restraint on my head, but sticking a wooden stick in my mouth that was connected to the table by wires. Joker followed the doctor out of the room and shut off the light, closing the door behind him, leaving me in complete and utter darkness.

…To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This chapter in written in normal POV, because it was really confusing trying to fill in Batman's part and then add Dick in and still share what Batman was thinking at the same time. The next chapter will be back to Dick's POV. Also, after clone Robin shows up, he is referred to as Robin, and the real Robin is Dick, unless someone is speaking, then they are calling Dick "Robin"

Also, I am SO sorry this took so long to post! I've been slightly working on it over the summer, but with the show I was in and school, I was finally able to get to finishing it yesterday. Thanks for being patient! =D

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the characters. They belong to DC and Cartoon Network… I think

Chapter 12

Thanks for making me a Fighter

Batman had all but given up hope of finding Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad when he got home that night. He didn't want to stop searching, but Superman has threatened to knock him out and have Alfred restrain him. He knew that Superman would go through with that threat in a heartbeat, so he complied.  
It had been 3 weeks since half of the Young Justice team had disappeared and they hadn't heard anything from the boys or the Joker in that time. He sighed and walked up the stairs after saying hello to Alfred and telling the old butler once again that they were no closer to finding the lost heroes than they had been the day that they were taken.  
As he reached the door, he sensed a presence inside the room, so he took a batarang that he kept in his pocket—incase of emergency—and threw the door open, ready for anything. Only to be greeted by Superman standing next to an open window.  
"As a billionaire living in Gotham City , I thought you would at least lock your windows," the Kryptonian remarked.  
"What do you want, Clark ?"  
A smile came over Superman's face "We found them."  
"How? When?" Bruce asked, but decided to focus on the most important question. "Where are they?"  
"We got a signal from Robin's computer. It was sent out a few weeks ago, around the time they were taken, but our radio finally picked it up. We traced it back to mansion that was foreclosed on some years ago and found a painting hanging in the main hall…" Clark trailed off for a second.  
"Were they there or not? I don't care about some painting hanging on a wall!"  
"Bruce!" Clark almost shouted, keeping the billionaire from continuing so that he could finish what he was saying. "The signal was inside of the painting."

After sharing the news with Alfred, Bruce changed into his Batman suit in record time before hopping into the Bat Mobile with Clark in Robin's seat. Superman led him to the mansion and through the broken window of entry.  
"This is it?" Batman asked, staring at the painting in suspicion.  
"Yes, stick your hand in."  
Batman did as he was told and stuck his hand through the painting, jumping back in surprise when it went straight through. "Call the others," he said. "Tell them to find me in there."  
"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for—"  
"I'm not waiting!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After entering the painting, Batman found himself in the same mansion. Well, almost the same. It was the same layout, with a huge staircase like the one in Wayne Manner, but the stairs had a purple carpet with green spots on it. The walls had the same pattern, but the colors were reversed, so it was an overall dizzy room.  
"Batsy!" an all too familiar voice rang out. "You finally made it!"  
"Where are you, you son of a—"  
"Batsy! There are children around!" the voice scolded.  
"Where are they?"  
"They're right through that door!"  
Batman turned around and stood face-to-face with a large wooden door. "What'd the catch?"  
"Nothing," Joker replied.  
Batman scowled and walked over to the door, taking occasional glances behind his back. When he reached the door, he reached out and turned the old-fashioned handle, then moved back and peered into the room, only to be greeted by a mirror. But, it wasn't a mirror, because he wasn't in the reflection, and the door had opened into it, hadn't it?  
He reached his hand through the doorway and scowled even more as he realized that the door simply led into a room that looked just like the one he was in. But this room had a door on either side of the hall.  
"Oooh Batsy, one more thing. You need to decide who you want to bring back. Because, you see, I have my little friends at Cadmus coming to take away Flash Jr. and Waterboy, but Robbie Boy is going to stay here with me. So make your choice wisely, because Cadmus will be here any moment now."  
"I don't think so, Joker!" a new voice rang out. Batman turned and saw Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Martian Manhunter.  
"Batman, go get Robin and get out of here. We'll get Kid Flash and Aqualad," Superman said.  
Batman nodded and ran to the door on the left, kicked it in and continued through until he reached another door at the end of the hall. This door was unlocked, so he entered, grabbing a batarang from his belt.  
"One more step, Batman, and Bird Boy gets it!" The Joker's voice rang out as Batman entered the room. It looked like the lab of a mad scientist. The mad part applied to the Joker, but he knew the scientist must be Cadmus' doing. "Really, Batman, you are most senseless sometimes! Did you really think I would let you just waltz in here and take my property without my say-so?"  
"They don't belong to you!"  
"Oh, well, the meta's don't, but me and Bird Boy have gotten rather fond of each other over the past week. You see?" Joker said, pointing to Robin at a "J" branded into his side.  
"JOKER!" Batman yelled, throwing the batarang at the madman, who pranced out of the way of it.  
Robin lifted his head slightly. He was aware of pain all over his body, but that had grown normal for him in the past week. He heard a snarl of annoyance and recognized the voice at once. Batman. He lifted his head as much as he could and saw his hero standing at the door, nearly blowing smoke from his nostrils.  
"Bat...man..." he managed to say out. It was an easy enough word. "Stay...traught."  
Batman looked up at the sound of the voice. The three words that his son had managed was enough to bring him back to reality. Leave it to Robin to use one of his new-found words in a life or death moment.  
"You lose, Joker," Batman said, pulling out a smoke grenade and pulling the clip before tossing it at the man.  
As soon as the smoke filled the room, Batman ran over to his son and picked the locks on the chains, pulling him off of the table and wrapping the boy in his cape. He had wanted to bring the Joker in, but right now his first priority was Robin. He wasn't sure what condition the other 2 were in, but he prayed that they were doing much better.  
He reached the door and ran through the hall and into the main room, where the others were waiting, Superman and Flash carrying Kid Flash and Aqualad, who were knocked out, but other then that seemed to be untouched.  
"Let's go," Bats said, walking to the door they came through.  
The other League members followed into the first hall with the staircase. On the top of the landing was the painting to their world, but there was something else.  
"Robin?" Superman asked, staring at the boy on the landing.  
"Not...Robin..." Dick chocked out. "Cadmus...clone..."  
Without warning, the clone leaped from the landing, glaive flashing, straight towards Batman.  
No one expected anything that happened next. Batman was shoved away and Dick lept to his feet, taking a slash ot the stomach. Robin yanked on the glave, but Dick held onto the handle until Superman handed Kaldur to Martian Manhunter and pulled Robin away and knocking him out.  
"Robin," Batman cried, running to his sidekick... his partner.  
"Batman, we need to pull the blade out," Superman said.  
Batman nodded and allowed Superman to pull out the glaive.  
"Robin, I'm about to pull this out, so you need to let go, ok?" Superman said, kneeling over the boy. Robin nodded weakly and let his arms fall from the blade. His legs finally gave out and Batman caught him as he fell to the ground. Batman and Superman made eye contact before the Kryptonian put a hand on the handle of the glaive and pulled it out. Dick let out a pained scream as the blade was removed and the blood began flowing out of the open wound.

...To be continued...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

I tried to be perfect

The first thing I was aware of was pain. Really, it was everywhere, and I definitly wasn't feeling the aster. Nor was I traught, or whelmed. I was feeling the disaster, I was distraught, and I was overwhelmed, which really sucked.  
I felt weak and drained. Like butter spread over too much bread... Bilbo Baggins said that, in case you were wondering. I liked that book.  
It seriously took me a while to figure out where I was. All I could hear was an annoying beeping and it wouldn't stop. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt extremely heavy, so I tried again. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That was always my motto. Although, working with Batman, everything had to be success. It was get it right, or do it again and again until it was right.  
I wondered where Bruce was and why I couldn't open my eyes. I was fully conscious, just... weak. I hated being weak. If I was weak, it meant I was worthless. It meant that Batman didn't need me around. And if I wasn't needed, why should I be there in the first place?  
No. I couldn't be weak, so I had to be strong. I was always strong for Batman. Why Because I wanted to be Batman. He was my hero and the closest thing to a father that I had, so I had to be good enough. Bruce was strong, so I would be too. I would open my eyes. Right now, opening my eyes seemed like the strong thing to do. It seemed like what Bruce would want.  
So I tried again and again and again. I was about to try again when I heard what sounded like a door open. Then a few memories came back. Joker, the castle, clone Robin, laughing gas.  
What I did next would have made Batman ashamed to call me his sidekick, his ward. I screamed. I don't know how I managed to get it out, but I screamed and felt the tears start streaming through my heavy eyelids and get caught on something. My mask. Joker didn't know who I was, but that couldn't last for much longer.  
Through the screams, tears and thrashing, I heard a voice. It was calm and slightly deep, not crazed. It sounded like Bruce. I must have finally lost my mind.  
"Dick," the voice said.  
Joker must have found out who I was. He took off the mask and figured it out, which meant he knew who Batman was, which meant that Bruce would be hunted down and killed. Gotham would be doomed and it would all be because of me. Batman's stupid little sidekick who got captured by the Joker.  
I never should ahve joined the team. I wasn't good enough to leave Batman. I'm still just a sidekick. Nothing more than a sidekick. The others were good enough. Roy, Wally, Kaldur'ahm, M'gann. Wally and Kaldur could have gotten Superboy without me. And then they would have met M'gann and Artemis and the team would have been fine.  
"Dick, you need to calm down," the voice broke through. The Joker broke through. I paused a second and realized something; I was thrashing. Which meant that I wasn't strapped down anymore. Which meant that I was... no, I couldn't have been free. I didn't... then more memories returned. Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Flash, Wally, Kaldur, Clone Robin... the glave. My eyes shot open and I was able to control my movements again. I managed to lift my head and saw bandages covering my stomach with blood soaking through.  
"Bruce...?" I asked, finding my throat raw from the screaming and dry from lack of water.  
"It's me, Dick," the voice replied. I looked and saw Batman standing over me, smiling.  
"Water..." I said. Screw manners at the moment. I wasn't feeling up to saying more than one word at a time.  
"In a minute," Batman said. "You broke a stitch just now; Alfred will fix it up."  
Just as he said it, Alfred walked into the room holding a tray with a pitcher and some medical tools.  
"It's good to see you up, Master Robin," Alfred said, setting the tray down and smiling at me.  
"You... too..." I said, doing my best to smile.  
Batman helped me to sit up while Alfred peeled the bandages off and threw them away. I saw Bruce's eyes keep moving to the brand on my side.  
Alfred held a cup of water to my mouth and let me drink from it. After taking a few sips, I felt a little better.  
"You must... be... ashamed..." I said, following his gaze to the brand for the 7th time.  
He looked appalled at the remark "Why would I be ashamed?"  
"You keep... looking..."  
"Richard, I would never be ashamed of you. The Joker did some awful things to you, and none of them were your fault, you hear me?"  
"Sorry to interrupt, but this may hurt a bit," Alfred said as he took peroxide out and used it to clean the wound. When Alfred did the stitches, it hurt even more, so I didn't complain about the alcohol.  
Alfred then picked up a roll of fresh bandages and started wrapping up my mid section again.  
I glanced around the room for the first time and realized for the first time that I was in my room at the mountain, but with all of the medical epuipment pilled around.  
"We're keeping you in here so you can have more personal space. We'll be able to hear you in the main room if you need anything, and your friends will be able to come in and see you any time," Bruce explained.  
"How are Wally... and Kaldur?"  
"They're fine. They were a little out of it for a day or two, but they're back to normal now."  
"A day... or two?"  
Batman nodded, "You've been in a coma for three days. It was understandable after what you went through. Wally has been running laps nonstop and Kaldur has been pretty hard on himself over this. They were all really worried about you."  
I couldn't help but smile at that. "Can I-"  
"Yes, you can see them. Try not to talk too much, you're going to wear out your voice."  
I nodded and watched as Bruce walked into the hall and returned exactly 28 seconds later with the team. Wally looked like he was about to start jumping up and down, while M'gann looked worried, yet glad at the same time. Kaldur heaved a sigh of relief while Superboy and Artemis both stood behind the others, looking glad, but slightly unsure of what to do.  
"You have 5 minutes," Batman said, leaving his post in the doorway and making his way down the hall.  
Kid Flash looked down the hall and then back at me, as if to be sure that Batman was gone. "Dude, that was insane!"  
"I think... that's kind of... obvious, KF," I said, trying not to smile at his choice of words.  
"Robin, what was it like being with the Joker?" M'gann asked.  
"It was..." I couldn't decide what to say. I couldn't admit that I was scared. They thought of me as Batman Jr. Fearless, secretive. They couldn't know that it was a facade, not yet anyway. "Weird..."  
"Weird? Dude, Rob, you spent a week with the Joker and all you can say is 'weird'?" KF snapped.  
My mind snapped back to the laughing gas, the red paint, the brand. All of the memories rushed back at once, penetrating all of my barriers.  
"Robin, you do not need to tell us anything that you do not want to," Kaldur said, placing a hand on my shoulder.  
I knew Kaldur could see through the mask. He was the most observant of the team, and was also like everyone's older brother.  
Before anyone else could say anything, Batman walked in, "Times up," he said. "Robin needs to rest if he's going to recover."  
I couldn't have been more grateful for Bruce's intervention. I looked at the clock next to my bed; it hadn't even been five minutes, but I guessed that Bruce must have been waiting in a hallway and heard where the conversation was heading.  
The team said goodbye and left the room, saying that they would be back tomorrow and I could call them if I needed anything.  
Batman closed the door behind them and walked over to my bed, pulling off his cowl and sitting down in a chair next to me.  
"We can take the IV out in a few days," he said after a moment of awkward silence. I hadn't even noticed it was in there, but sure enough, it was resting in my arm.  
I nodded, trying not to talk too much.  
"Is everything ok?" Bruce asked.  
I nodded again, moving along with him as he helped me to sit up and place pillows behind my back to prop me up more.  
"Dick, it's ok to be scared, you know."  
I looked at him "I'm not... scared."  
"Then why did you scream earlier?"  
"I..."  
"Dick, no one is going to think less of you for being afraid. Not very many people are taken by the Joker and come out alive, and those who do take years to get over it. I'm not expecting you to be your old self after what you went through in that world."  
I looked down at the blankets. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't admit to Batman that I was scared, but then I realized. I wasn't sitting next to Batman at the moment. I was sitting next to Bruce Wayne, Playboy billionair, CEO of Wayne Enterprizes, and the man who took me in when I had nowhere else to go. The man who I saw as my father. He was my hero, and I wanted to be just like him, which meant that I had to be a hero, but... heroes could be afraid, too.  
I looked back at Bruce and reached up to pull off the domino mask and looked him in the eye. Without the mask, I wasn't Robin, I was Dick Grayson, just like when Bruce wasn't wearing his mask, he wasn't Batman. With no masks, we were just Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne. Former acrobat and playboy millionair. Son and Father.  
"I tried to... be strong," I said.  
"I know."  
"But I couldn't... stop him... I tried to... get away."  
"And no one was expecting you to do it on your own."  
"When he brought... the brand... it hurt... so bad."  
"I know it did."  
"I thought... I was gonna... die there."  
I felt the tears making their way down my cheeks as I went on, explaining everything that happened, in as much detail as I could handle.  
After about an hour, my throat started getting raw and sore again, so I finally had to stop. Bruce helped me to lie down and put in a new IV bag. He replaced my mask onto my face, in case any of the team had to come in.  
"Bruce?" I asked as he got to the door and replaced his cowl.  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you... stay here... tonight?"  
Bruce nodded, "my stuff is in the next room over."  
I smiled and dozed off. I didn't have any nightmares, I didn't think about the brand on my side, nor did I think about the other world, or the Pigacorn. I especially didn't think about the Joker. I thought of Bruce, of my friends, of Barb and my parents. I knew that my parents would be especially proud. I may have been caught by the Joker, but I also survived that encounter. I knew that I would be ok now, because I had Bruce with me through it all.


	15. Chapter 15

EPILOGUE

"Broken wings can heal. I believe that Robin will fly again" - Alfred - Batman Forever

I swung my legs over the side of the bed. It was a long process to recovery, but it was bearable when KF and Artemis weren't fighting, which wasn't very often, though they decided to try and stop for the sake of my sanity. Bruce was able to pull some strings at Gotham Academy as to why I wouldn't be there for the last two months of school. I'm not really sure what story he told them, but they went along with it. I could just see the news story if anyone found out "Dick Grayson captured by the Joker; Saved by Batman." But if they had just told them that I had been taken as Dick, it would have made recovery extremely difficult with reporters and all that nonsense.  
"Are you sure you feel up to this today?" Bruce asked for the billionth time that afternoon. I was still feeling kind of sore, but it was to be expected. Two months of recovery and the brand still hurt every once in a while. The stab wound wasn't as bad. Though, it wouldn't have taken so long to recover if I hadn't stop kept popping my stitches every couple of days.  
Kaldur had finally accepted that I didn't blame him for what happened, though he had just come to that point a few days before. M'gann decided to make me cookies to help me feel better, but she couldn't figure out which part of the egg was the "egg white" so she stuck the shells in there. Batman was pretty upset when he found me with a couple of stitches popped as I kneeled over the toilet throwing up. Superboy acted strangely around me. I went back to training about a week before, but he seemed to be extremely gentle whenever he fought me, like he was afraid that I would shatter if he physically touched me. He spent most of the 2 months watching the fuzzy TV screen.  
Bruce stayed at the mountain with me in that time. He went to work during the day, but afterwards, he would come back and sit with me. I talked him into helping me into the TV room one day to play some videos games... I popped yet another couple of stitches when I jumped up after beating him for the 5th time at Mario Kart, so he took me back to my room and gave me a book.  
I made my way to my dresser and pulled out my green and yellow swimming trunks. Bruce left the room to get stuff while I changed. I looked in the full length mirror on my closet. I looked like I had gotten about an inch taller, maybe, so I was glad of that. I looked at the massive scar that spread across my stomach and then my gaze moved to the brand. The swirly "J" looked like an angry pink color.  
I slipped on my shades and walked out of my room, feeling the aster. I was feeling completely traught, and I was totally whelmed. It felt good to be back to normal, able to walk around the mountain without somebody by my side at all times. When I reached the TV room, I slid into my brown American Eagle flip flops and joined the rest of the team at the front entrance.  
The broken windows were fixed, the walls were sealed up. It looked like nothing had even forced its way into our home. We got a much better security system, also.  
"You ready to go?" Batman asked. He wore black swim trunks and black shades that were identical to mine.  
I nodded and couldn't help but laugh when Wally screamed "Last one there is a rotten egg!" and sped off as fast as he could to the beach.  
Everyone else ran after him, but I stood behind with Bruce, who looked down at me, "You sure you're feeling up to this?" he asked with a smile.  
"Of course!" I said before running ahead of him and joining the others in the water, leaving Bruce to set up our stuff on the sand.  
Yep, everything is back to normal. I have what I need, and also what I don't. But some of the time, but I do have, I don't want...  
"Team! I have a new mission for you!" Batman called from the shore.  
We all sighed and made our way back.  
"Suit up. Superman just alerted me that the League of Shadows is moving towards Gotham. We need you guy to go in, and get out. Don't forget, this is just a recon mission!"  
I stayed back with Batman as the team ran inside. They had been going on occasional missions during the two months that I was recovering, so I figured that they would be going without me again.  
"You sure you're feeling good today?" Bruce asked me.  
"Better than I did yesterday," I replied.  
"Go suit up. It's time Robin makes his reappearance," he replied, smiling.  
Seeing Bruce smile behind the cowl was a strange sight, but I wasn't focused on that. I was going on a mission again! I ran back to the mountain and into my room, where I opened the closet door and pulled out one of my costumes. It had been a while since I wore the suit; since I was taken by the Joker. But I couldn't dwell on the past. I wasn't going to let it keep me from flying again. I was born to fly, ever since I was a kid, I was flying 50 feet in the sky, under the big top. Broken wings can heal and they can fly again. I may have the scars, but I can't dwell on them. I'm going to move forward, because I have everyone that I need. My name is Richard John Grayson, I walked with insanity, and I kept my mind.


End file.
